Administration was sought following minority shareholder Craig
Pollock's refusal to relinquish his three per cent slice and
(unsuccessful) High Court challenge.

McLaren deny West split
(GMM -- Dec.15) A McLaren spokesperson denied that the F1 team would
kick off season 2005 without long time title sponsor West.

''(The cigarette brand) will be on our car for the Australian grand
prix,'' she said.

It was earlier reported that, with a Europe-wide tobacco advertising
ban to strike mid-year, beverage giant Diageo - with whiskey label
Johnnie Walker and $70 million in mind - was likely to replace
Imperial Tobacco in late July.

But, for continuity, speculation said McLaren and Imperial's West
brand - which is known to have 'renegotiated' the F1 deal for the
latter half of 2005 - may want to split immediately.

McLaren's 'optimized' cockpit
(GMM -- Dec.15) At Woking, cockpit designers are trying to squeeze
'third' driver Alex Wurz into a later phase of the new McLaren
MP4-20's production.

The 1.82 centimeter tall Austrian - seven and fourteen cm's bigger
than Kimi Raikkonen and new team-mate Juan Pablo Montoya - does not
fit into the 2005 launch model car.

''I can continue in the MP4-19B for now,'' he explained, ''and I hope
I'll fit into the MP4-20 if they are able to build a car for the test
team with more space in the cockpit -- but it's not certain at the
moment that will be the case.''

A team spokeswoman, meanwhile, admitted that the lack of room for Wurz
was no design accident. ''(McLaren) decided to optimize the chassis
... around the race drivers.''

McLaren may lose Mobil
(GMM -- Dec.15) A likely new title sponsor for McLaren aside, a few
(million) dollars may slide out of Ron Dennis' office at the end of
2005.

Whilst exploring the end-of-year departure of tobacco sponsor Imperial
(West) and probable arrival of beverage brand Diageo (Johnnie Walker),
it was revealed that ExxonMobil - through the Mobil 1 brand - may not
renew a long term deal.

Moreover, it is believed that during 2004 Mercedes-powered McLaren
staged talks with Samsung and Sinopec - even Ferrari backer Vodafone -
to no avail.

Fiat and Ferrari president Luca di Montezemolo is to chair a committee
on Thursday to determine which (of eight) projects will be selected to
best signify the life of the scarlet marque's founder at via Paulo
Ferrari 85.

That is the appraisal of Renault's full time test driver Franck
Montagny, who tried an 'interim' 2004/5 blue-and-yellow R24 at Jerez
last week.

The Frenchman said: ''What's it like to drive? Slippery!''

Montagny said the new aerodynamic code, offering less grip in a
FIA-inspired bid to slow cornering speed, is 'really noticed' in
medium speed corners. ''The rear also slides more,'' he added, ''which
can be fun for the driver -- but it really slows you down.''

Meanwhile, the new one-tire-for-qualifying-and-the-race rule will mean
that the clear-cut task of driving 'flat out all the time' during
grands prix is no more, Franck said.

Minardi lecture
(GMM -- Dec.15) F1 team founder Gian Carlo Minardi gave a lecture to
students at Milan's Bocconi University last Saturday.

The Italian - along with technical director Gabriele Tredozi and
financial director Stefano Sangiorgi - lectured an Economics class as
part of a student's final thesis -- about the organization of the
Faenza-based team.

''(They) provided a thorough overview of the business of running a
motor racing team at the very highest level,'' read a statement,
adding that the lecture's transcript may be sent to other universities
as course material.

Gian Carlo Minardi commented: '''I hope we imparted some of the
personal passion that helps to keep Minardi moving forward.''

McLaren to run 'third' car
(GMM -- Dec.15) McLaren - a 'bottom six' Formula One team in 2004 -
plan to run a 'third' car in Friday grand prix practice next year.

A team spokeswoman denied that pressure to leave the smaller teams to
exclusively enjoy the advantage had influenced a decision.

''The FIA regulations allow us (to run a spare car),'' she said, ''so
where it will be to our advantage, we plan to do so.''

Earlier, we reported that the F1 Commission may consider proposing a
rule to disallow former constructors' champions, like McLaren and
Williams - irrespective of an 'off' season - from taking advantage of
the ruling.

But Frank Williams admitted that an eligible top F1 team would 'be
mad' to vote for the amendment.

Malaysia's next F1 star
(GMM -- Dec.15) Roduwan Rashid. He may become the second Malaysian
driver to ever race at the pinnacle of motor sport.

The 27-year-old won a Formula BMW test for taking home former Minardi
pilot Alex Yoong's first 'F1 Search' title.

A field of ten, at the wheel of go-karts, fought it out in a shoot
out-style race last Sunday. Rashid dropped to last in the first corner
but took the win at the end after two former leaders spun.

''Two other competitors from the grand final (will also be selected to
test the Formula BMW car),'' a statement posted at alexyoong.com said.

Brit GP ticket offer
(GMM -- Dec.15) Silverstone is offering a 'three days for the price of
one' ticket deal for the salvaged 2005 British grand prix.

A spokesman said that if tickets are booked before 1 February 2005, a
three day general (adult) ticket can be bought from as little as 95
(UK) pounds.

''That's a saving of £100 for a family of two adults and two children
purchasing Bronze level tickets before the booking deadline,'' he
explained.

In 2004, the Silverstone event - with 100,000 in attendance -- was
sold out. A 'Gold 4' seat - in a prime location - is priced at around
$430.

DC deal 'could go wrong'
(GMM -- Dec.15) David Coulthard and Red Bull is a 'done deal' --
according to some F1 headlines.

But managing director David Pitchforth, in defiance of team owner
Dietrich Mateschitz's quoted optimism, said an agreement with the
veteran Scot could still 'go wrong.

He said: ''I've got to say it's 50-50 -- it could still go either
way.''

Pitchforth did, though, reveal that negotiations with 33-year-old DC
and manager Martin Brundle had reached the point of putting together a
contract, and said all driver-evaluation testing was at an end.

''As far back as the Jaguar days we were talking to David,'' he
admitted.

''It needs to go through all the right procedures, such as lawyers,
now.''

The South-African chief designer, who's retiring at the end of 2006,
said in a recent interview that the scarlet team lived with the
problem throughout last season.

''We definitely fixed it for this year though,'' he insisted.

Asked by the interviewer for more information, though, Rory continued:
''I'm not prepared to say,'' but he did admit that F2003-GA's cooling
was 'one weakness' that compelled a major aerodynamic compromise.

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